3yo is soooo nahghty worries me like mad

[chrissiew]

God am I blessed - my new 17 month old Hanoverian filly is an absolute angel, although she is out with my VERY dominant, very bossy mare, so I don't think really has a chance to think up mischief!

Famous last words!

Although my sister's NFxCob who we got as a 5 year old, had an interesting past in that he climbed through his fencing as a baby and ended up in the yard owners swimming pool !!! and had to be rescued by the fire brigade - although he was according to his old owner completely unconcerned! I can believe it too, as he is an escape merchant still, although does stay in the field thankfully, but we do have electric wire fencing powered by the mains, so that tends to discourage him! They certainly keep you on your toes when they are like that!

[portiabuzz]

sounds like you are doing everything you can....lovely to have 3 acres, not sure you can do any more! Good luck xx

[clara81]

Sounds like pretty normal pony behaviour to me! Our Fell is exactly the same and have had various Welshies the same, usually geldings. People on the same yard in same situation with "man-made" breeds like TBs don't have those problems, but they don't have half the fun either!! Lol!

[Karon]

My 8 year old Arab is just as bad, if anything she's getting worse as she gets older I can't wait till the weather gets better and I can start doing more with her!

[jol]

Dec 22, 2009 14:57:10 GMT 1 clara81 said:

People on the same yard in same situation with "man-made" breeds like TBs don't have those problems, but they don't have half the fun either!! Lol!

That's because they are man made it's because they have manners and are respectful ;D

[izzy]

How often do you go up? I would have thought that doing lots of groundwork, going out for 'hacks' etc might give him something else to think about. Especially now that it wont be long before the evenings will be getting lighter, it would probably do him good to doing something twice a day.

Ladyoak--I cannot afford another horse and only joke about selling him ,as he is only 3yo he only does inhand work with tack on ,walking out and light lunging 3 - 4 times a week as i work 12hr shifts and not possible to do anything on my days at work.

he is only on an acre as i cannot afford to rent more land and my arab is prone to laminitis he is out with 3 others who do not wish to play with him.

I wont be breaking him till he is4yo and have a helper coming to work with him in the spring with me and if they are suitable he will get more work although i dont feel i have to justify myself as i am doing the best possible to keep him entertained.

Highlanderpony2002-- what did you find rather rude me? or the above?

well he stayed in last night has 4 new toys more hay(round bale) and straw(heston)than needed and had a little run about with one of the minis today hopefully weather permitting will be able to work him all over xmas.

[highlanderpony2002]

the person who though we shoud sell because the ponies were bored, not you, I know your pain it is hard enough without smart asses trying to make us feel we are not doing the best we can for our ponies

[shelley2]

lets not have this thread turn nasty a genuine question has been asked now lets do our best to offer all the advice we can eh??

i do agree re the wooden posts however that will be difficult as its a livery yard not private land
glad to hear you have poly wire on order that hopefully will do the trick
have you ever seen him or her get out?? mine used to lean over the top and then walk through the rest so might be worth putting a few more strands up?
the other thing is, cut back all the greenery that is touching it and try to make sure it is one long constant piece of wire/tape rather than pieces joined together.
is it mains powered or battery? i used to run mine off a battery so if you do the same its worth getting a solar charge panel to keep the charge powered up for maximum zap

[highlanderpony2002]

sorry no meant to get nasty as I explained we do our best and the naughty little monkeys get up to mischief not in my view a need to sell but to put thinking cap on and do the best possible unfortunately there is always someone who has to be hyper critical I have been raising youngsters from foals to full grown for many years this is the first one that has reduced me to tears of frustration after re-erecting the fence dozens of times while she just walked through with total disregard for the fence she simply walks up to and steps through. So in her best interest I have moved the fences dividing the field to the perimeter allowed the other livery shetland into our part giving him company and although it means I now have to feed him and poo pick his poo too it is in the best interest of the foal to have the fences down it was a great fear that she would get hurt or through the hedge onto the road if I didn't do something and to be honest so far she has stayed put she has all the ponies in the field and the whole field to play in now. The fence against the perimeter hedge prevents the shetland getting onto the road as I have put extra rows of tape up and a new battery and new fencing along the top. Come Spring if she still does it I will have to think again as it will not be in the best interest of the shetland to have three acres of grazing so I will unforunately have to seperate them again it is sad as he up to now has spent months on his own with no equine company and get very sad. His owner permitting I can take him to share with my adult natives on restricted grazing but I very much doubt they will allow it. Using the new fencing as a divider did not work she still just walked through

[ladynowak]

i am seriously debating sellimg him as he causing me so many problems and putting my other horses at risk.

I am very sorry but I couldn't see how you meant this as a joke? But if you are intent on keeping him and can't give him any more to keep his mind occupied/space/friend to play with you will just have to hope that better fencing will do the trick.

Highlanderpony, you may think I am a smart ass all you like, that is entirely your prerogative. But if my best wasn't good enough for my horses, then I would be trying to find someone who's best was good enough for them. There is no point in having horses if you constantly worry about them either hurting themselves, hurting your other horses/leading them astray or escaping and doing damage to other peoples property or horses as it will be you that is left footing the bill.

He may well grow out of it, perhaps moving him somewhere where he could have more play mates/better fencing might be an option in the short term?

[kafee]

Is all the tape live?

I have an escape artist too, and have had problems with the tape being broken, tied back together and the knots not transmitting the power. Recently I tried winding thin galvanised wire round one of the plastic electric fence posts all the way down so that all the strands of electric tape touch it. I use 4 strands as there is a busy footpath through the field, and wiring the post has been very successful in keeping all the fence live without having to replace damaged lengths of tape. I've now wired approximately every 4th post. I check that the tape is live regularly using a piece of grass.

[highlanderpony2002]

thanks for that it is a very good idea now she is only confined by a perimeter fence formerly I would have worried about wire cuts but as it now close to the hedge that is a very good idea
We have a meter and trey to keep it above 4000 volts if possible around the fence

[bramblesmum]

You may find an acre for three horses is not quite enough room and so your youngster goes out exploring, mine was better on a bigger paddock but only the extra fencing really kept her in as she wasn't a jumper, she walked through it, lifted plastic posts up and sometimes limboed under trust me though you learn to love the cheeky sides

[kafee]

Wow, you're high tech highlanderpony2002. I measure the voltage by how short a piece of grass I need to use to get a click in my thumb!

Do you find the voltage is lower in dry weather?

[highlanderpony2002]

yes much lower in dry weather and the earth is harder to keep established so we have a three foot earthing spike and a bucket of water to keep it sharp it is a bit of a pain to move on the adult ponies strip grazing but it works well